Means for supporting removable type units in typewriters



Nov. 2 1926. I

A. PATEMAN MEANS FOR SUPPORTING REMOVABLE TYPE UNITS IN TYPEWRITERS Fild May 17, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 2 1926. 1,605,767 A. PATEMAN MEANS FOR SUPPORTING REMOVABLE TYPE UNITS IN TYPEWRITERS Filed May-17, 1926 2 Sheets-Shoat 2' a m W. a

Patented Newv 2, 1926.

r TE STATES insane ARTHUR rnrnMAN, ormnlcnsrnia, ENGLAND, nssieNon TO IMPERIAL rvrnwnrrnn contra-NY LIMITED, or NORTH ERVINGTON; LEICESTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISH CDMPANY.

MEANS FOR fiUPPoRTlNG REMovABLE "TYPE UNITS IN TYPEWRITEES.

Application filed May 17, 1926', Serial No. 109,797, and'in Great Britain Junez, 1925.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to typewriters and has reference to the type arranged: for interchangeability of the type-unit. Heretofore in such machines it has been necessary, after disconnect ng a locking device for locking-the unit .to the stationary part to lift the type-unitbodfly away tromits operativerposition. This has usually necessitateda certainamount of manoeuvring otthe unit clear of obstacles on the stationary part of the-machine, and

as the unit weighs several poundsi the oper-' ation is a rather delicate one; The present invention has for its object to provide an improved construction wherein this difficulty is obviatedi According tothe present invention, a typewriter of the type referred toabove is characterized by theprovisiontof runners or the equivalent on the framework of the machine so arranged as to guide and support.

the type-unit during its withdrawal from and introduction to theistationary part of the machine. Preferably, the runners extend in'a d1-. rection parallel to thesides t' tlleII12,Ch1Ile.':

This arrangement enables theunitto be moved into and out of its operative position in a direction which 1s transverse to therlongi'w tudinal axis of the platen roller, whichis desirable, as will be readilyunderstoodr:

The type-unit may be disposed between the runners and supportedthereon lJyrneans of studs or the equivalent projecting latere. ally :tromthe unit." This arrangement is advantageous in that the provision of. the

runners need not incur anyv additional depth;

in the framework of the machine.

According to a feature: of the invention,

the runners may be curved in suchnianner as automatically to guide thcunit clear of the various portions of-the stationary part of the machine which otherwise would ob struct the unit in its passage to and from" the said operative position.

According to a further feature5 the runners may be arranged to supportthe unit in its operative position and may be mounted on the framework ofthemachine in such manner (for example, on eccentric. studs) asto be adjustable in a vertical planefor ings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment byway of exampleyand in which t Figure; 1 is" .a sectional elevation takenalong the line l-l-of,iFigure 2 j F1'gure'2 is a horizontal section taken alongthe l1ne 2-2 of Figure l, and

Figure 3 illustrates in; detail theeccentric' studs connecting the runners'with the frame work of the machine.

Like reference numeralsindicate-like parts in the various-figures. v a

The framework of the machine comprises an upper casting 1 and 'a'lower casting 2.

The-two castings are bolted together by means ofbolts 3. Carried upon the top of the: uppercasting is atop-plated which is secured by screws 5 tosaid upper casting;

The platenrol-ler isindicated at 6.

Thetyp'emnit of theimachine is indicateddiagrammatically and the side plates of the unitia're shownat 7. The unit is arranged" to be supported upon and guided by a pair of horizontally disposed runners ,8 mounted upon thex-side walls 9 of the lowercastin'g 2.; The rumiersextend from near therear wall of the lower; casting to a point sufih cientlyfar beyond the-front oi' the stationary part of the machine to enable the unit to be moved outwardly upon the runners far enough to bring it :clear of obstructing vportions of said stationary part, so thatit is only necessary when the unit has: been drawnout to" the l'lllXlllllllTl degree on therunners;

to" littqthe'unitbodily away. They need for manoeuvringthe unit clear otobs'tructions is thereby obviated;

The unit isiarran ged to be supported upon the upper-edge'ofthe runners by means of studs 10 projecting laterally from the -side plates 7 o'fthe units." Two studs 10 are provided"- ateach side: of the unit and they are so located in a verticaldirection as to result in the bottom of the unit being substantially flush with the underside of the runners, as shown.

The runners are curved, as illustrated, for the purpose of guiding tee unit clear of any. portions of the stationary part of the ma chine which otherwise would obstruct the un t in its travel to and from the operative vfition. The uppermost projection from the unit shown at 11 in Figure 1. This projection which is shown purely diagramn'iatically is the uppermost part of the ribbon carrier which in operation reciprocates in a more or less vertical plane so as to bring the pm tion wherein it will be interposed between the platen roller and the type on any one oi the type-bars when the type-bar is in its operative position. It will be appreelated of course that the member 11 has no notional connection with the members v nich directly comprise the invention. The curvature oi the guides is such as to result in suiiicient lowering'of the unit during its withdrawing movement to bring the upper extremity of this projection 11 below the lower edge 12 ot' the front of the top-plate,

the projectionll passes said lower edge.

The actual curvature of the runners would be made to suit the requirements in any given case. The extreme withdrawn position oi the unit is shown in'Figure a.

The runners S are carried upon the side walls 9 of the lowercasting 2 by means of studs 13, each of which is formed, as shown in Figure 3, with an eccentric let adjacent the head. Rotationof any one of the studs 13 will obviously result in slight movement or the runner through which the stud passes, in a vertical plane Any one of the studs may be rotated so that independent adjustment of either end ofeither runner is possible. The studs 13 are screwed into a sleeve 15, which is rotatably mounted in a boss 16, formed on the inner face of the side wall 9. The sleeve 15 is provided with head 17, whereby it may be rotated or held from rotation by the application of a screwdriver, when the adjustment of the stud 13 is ei'lected.

The rear end of each of the runners is formed, as shown, with a V-shaped slot to receive the rear studs 10 on the unit and act therewith as a stop for the unit with a wedging action. The wedging action is ad vantageous in that it provides for rigidity of the unit in its operative position.-

In order to prevent movement otthe runners on their adjustable mountings after they have been set, due to backward thrust imparted say by the rearward movement of the unit into its operative position,'there are provided in the rear of the framework two setsscrews'18which act as abutments and which can be set so as to abut firmly against the studs 19.

ubbon into and out from an operative the rear ends of the runners after the latter have been correctly adjusted on their mountings.

The unit is provided with stops at the forward end, each consisting oil a stud 19 mounted upon the runners so as to project inwardly therefrom, and a latch 20 pivotally mounted upon the side-plates 7 of the typeunit. The latches are mounted upon the forward supporting studs 10, and they are spring-controlled in a direction to engage The latches are moved in the inoperative direction by means of fingerp'ieces 21, pivotally connected at 22 to an arm 23' formed on the latch. The latches are formed with a cam 2% which, during the inward movement of the type-unit comes first intocontact with the stud '19, and causes the latch to ride over the stud until the end of the n0tch'25 in the latch reaches a position such that latching can take place.

in order to ensure that the type-unit shall iefirmly' supported upon the runners without end-play, due, for exa-n'iple, to irregularities'between the interchangeable typeunits, the stud 19 is eccentrically mounted so as tobe adjustable to vary the distance between the stops.

Those elements of the mechanism on the unit which are arranged to come into operative engagement with co-operating elements onthe stationary part ofthe machine are so disposed and. arranged as to come. into abutting engagement. Such an arrangement or" elements is indicated in chain-line in Figure 1. The elementsindicated by the numerals 26 and 27 form part of the type-unit and are arranged to abut, in known manner, against cylindricalportions 28 and 29 respectively-of co-operating elements 30 and 31 on the stationary part of the machine. l-t'is thus possible to withdraw the typeunit from its operative position without disconnection of any parts other than the latches aforesaid. Also when an automatic latching device is provided, as described above, ithis possible to introduce the typeunit into its operative position directly without any manipulation of any element of runners onthe frame-work of the ma-.

chine torsupporting and at the same time guiding the type-un1t as it is wlthdrawn l ltl from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, the runners being disposed at either side of the type-unit so that the latter is carried between the runners, tor the purpose described.

in typewriter constructed and arranged for interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, the runners being disposed at either side of the type-unit so that the latter is carried between the runners, and studs projecting laterally from the type-unit and constituting the means whereby the latter rests upon the runners, for the purpose described.

4r. In a typewriter constructed and ar ranged for interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, said runners being curved in such manner as automatically to guide the type unit clear of obstructions on the stationary part or the machine, for the purpose described.

5.1n a typewriter constructed and arranged tor interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, the runners being disposed at either side oi the type-unit so that the lat ter is carried between the runners and curved in such manner as automatically to guide the type-unit clear of obstructions on the stationary part of the machine, for the purpose described.

6. In a typewriter constructed and arranged icr interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, the runners being disposed at either side of the type-unit so that the latter is carried between the runners and curved in such manner as automatically to guide the type-unit clear of obstructions on the stationary part of the machine, and projecting laterally from the type-unit and constitutingthe means whereby the latter rests upon the runners, for the purpose described;

7. In a typewriter constructed and arranged for interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, said runners being so mounted upon the frame-work as to be adjustable in a vertical plane, for the purpose described.

8. In a typewriter constructed and ar ranged for interchangeability of the type unit, the combination with the type-unit of runners at either side on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the tpye-unit as it is moved to and from its operative position in the machine and means on the type-unit whereby the latter rests upon the runners at four points, two at eachi side of the unit,

might bedisplaced bybaclrward thrust of the runners as the type-unit is pushed home, the combination with the runners of stops thereon for limiting the inward movement of the type-unit and adjustable abutments on a stationary part of the machine arranged to project towards the inner end or the runners and engage the same against backward movement due to said thrust.

10. in a typewriter constructed and arranged for interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work or" the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, and stops located respectively near the front and the rear of the typearnit, each consisting of an element on the runner and a cooperating element on the type-unit, for limiting both the inward and the outward movements of the type-unit, one of said Hill stops being adjustable to vary the effective distance between itself and the other stop, for the purpose described.

11. In a typewriter constructed and ar ranged for interchangeability of the type unit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the framework of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, and stops for limiting both the inward and the outward movement of the typeunit located respectively near the rear and the front of the unit, of which stops those which limit the inward movement are constituted each by a lateral stud on the unit by which the latter is caused to rest upon the runner and co-operating therewith, a V- shaped abutment on the inner end of the runner adapted to engage the stud with a w'dging action, and those stops which limit the outward movement are adjustable to vary the effective distance between the front and rear stops, for the purpose described.

12. In typewriter constructed and arranged for interchangeability of the typeunit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the "frame-work of the machine for supporting and the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, and stops for limiting both the inward and the outward movement oi the typeunit located respectively near the rear and the front of the unit, of which stops those which limit the inward movement are constituted each by a late 'al stud on the unit by which the latter is caused to rest upon the runner, and co-operating therewitln a \i' shaped abutment on the inner end of the runner adapted to engage the stud with a wedging action and those stops which limit the outward movement each consist of an eccentrically headed stud mounted in the run-' ncr and projecting laterally therefrom and a notched latch pivoted to the side oi the unit to swing in a Vertical plane and engage the head of the stud.

13. In a typewriter constructed and arranged for interchangeability of the type unit, the combination with the type-unit of runners on the frame-work of the machine for supporting and at the same time guiding the type-unit as it is withdrawn from and introduced into its operative position in the machine, and stops for limiting both the inward and the outward movement of the typeunit located respectively near the rear and the front of the unit, of which stops those which limit the inward movement are c011- stituted each by a lateral stud on the unit by which the latter is caused to rest upon the runner, and co-operating therewith, a V- shaped abutment on the inner end of the runner adapted to engage the stud with a we ing action, and those stops which limit the outward movement each consist of an eccentrically headed stud momited in the runner and projecting laterally therefrom and a finger-operated notched latch pivoted to the side of the unit to swing in a vertical plane and engage the head of the stud, yieldingly controlled towards the stud and camshaped to ride, uncontrolled by the fingers, over the head of the stud during the inward movement of the unit until the unit has reached its operative position whereupon the latch. will move automatically to its latching position.

in testimony whereof I atiix my signature.

ARTHUR PATEMAN. 

